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IMDbPro

Les Promesses de l'ombre

Original title: Eastern Promises
  • 2007
  • 12 avec avertissement
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
262K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,181
205
Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
Eastern Promises - Trailer #2
Play trailer2:03
15 Videos
99+ Photos
CrimeDramaThriller

A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.A teenager who dies during childbirth leaves clues in her journal that could tie her child to a rape involving a violent Russian mob family.

  • Director
    • David Cronenberg
  • Writer
    • Steven Knight
  • Stars
    • Naomi Watts
    • Viggo Mortensen
    • Armin Mueller-Stahl
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    262K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,181
    205
    • Director
      • David Cronenberg
    • Writer
      • Steven Knight
    • Stars
      • Naomi Watts
      • Viggo Mortensen
      • Armin Mueller-Stahl
    • 492User reviews
    • 301Critic reviews
    • 83Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 28 wins & 74 nominations total

    Videos15

    Eastern Promises
    Trailer 2:03
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises
    Clip 0:34
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises
    Clip 0:57
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises
    Clip 1:03
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises
    Clip 1:05
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises: How Did You Get Here
    Clip 1:33
    Watch Eastern Promises: How Did You Get Here
    Eastern Promises: Read The Diary
    Clip 0:35
    Watch Eastern Promises: Read The Diary
    Eastern Promises: Tatiana
    Clip 1:02
    Watch Eastern Promises: Tatiana
    Eastern Promises: The Address
    Clip 1:05
    Watch Eastern Promises: The Address
    Eastern Promises: The Stars
    Clip 0:57
    Watch Eastern Promises: The Stars
    Eastern Promises
    Featurette 0:09
    Watch Eastern Promises
    Eastern Promises
    Featurette 0:15
    Watch Eastern Promises

    Photos108

    Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Vincent Cassel in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Viggo Mortensen, Vincent Cassel, and Mina E. Mina in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl, Viggo Mortensen, and Mina E. Mina in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Viggo Mortensen in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Armin Mueller-Stahl and Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Best Actor
    Vincent Cassel in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)
    Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts in Les Promesses de l'ombre (2007)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Naomi Watts
    Naomi Watts
    • Anna
    Viggo Mortensen
    Viggo Mortensen
    • Nikolai
    Armin Mueller-Stahl
    Armin Mueller-Stahl
    • Semyon
    Josef Altin
    Josef Altin
    • Ekrem
    Mina E. Mina
    • Azim
    Aleksandar Mikic
    • Soyka
    • (as Aleksander Mikic)
    Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse
    Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse
    • Tatiana
    • (as Sarah Jeanne Labrosse)
    Lalita Ahmed
    Lalita Ahmed
    • Customer
    Badi Uzzaman
    Badi Uzzaman
    • Chemist
    Doña Croll
    • Nurse
    • (as Dona Croll)
    Raza Jaffrey
    Raza Jaffrey
    • Doctor Aziz
    Sinéad Cusack
    Sinéad Cusack
    • Helen
    • (as Sinead Cusack)
    Jerzy Skolimowski
    Jerzy Skolimowski
    • Stepan
    Tatiana Maslany
    Tatiana Maslany
    • Tatiana
    • (voice)
    Vincent Cassel
    Vincent Cassel
    • Kirill
    Shannon-Fleur Roux
    • Maria
    Lillibet Langley
    • Violin Girl
    Mia Soteriou
    Mia Soteriou
    • Azim's Wife
    • Director
      • David Cronenberg
    • Writer
      • Steven Knight
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Loin des hommes
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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The tattoos around Nikolai's - Viggo Mortensen's character - ankles read "Where are you going?" and "What the fuck do you care?" in Russian. Mortensen thought that they were hilarious, that 'one foot doesn't respect the other.'
    • Goofs
      After Nikolai was accepted by the mafia bosses, he gets his stars tattooed. When he is in the public bath, the tattoos seem to be completely healed. However, when they are entering the baths, a slight redness is perceivable around the stars. There was one day between these scenes. While the usual for a tattoo is to be brighter at first, it can be assumed that between the particular individual's skin, the lighting and the humidity of the baths, a normal tattoo could seem to be more healed than it actually is.
    • Quotes

      Anna: Why are you doing this, why are you helping us?

      Nikolai Luzhin: I can't become king if someone else already sits on the throne.

    • Alternate versions
      In India, the theatrical release was cut in spite of receiving an A (adults only) rating. A sex scene, an offensive scene involving the cross and a grave and nudity during the fight sequence were censored. Also removed was the shot of stabbing in the eye.
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Shoot 'Em Up/Eastern Promises/Fierce People/The Brothers Solomon/In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
    • Soundtracks
      Just a Little
      Written by Michelle Escottery, John Hammond-Hagan and George Hammond-Hagan

      Performed by Liberty X

      Courtesy of V2 Music Ltd.

    User reviews492

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A promising affiliate
    "Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls into the pit which he digs for another." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    If Viggo Mortensen fighting naked in a London steam bath with some bad Chechens doesn't interest you, then perhaps I can offer you a second-tier Godfather with strong family "values" and exceptional acting. Director David Cronenberg in Eastern Promises comes through again with realistic violence and depressing ambiance, cast over by a humanity that even the Godfather has trouble matching.

    Mid-wife Anna (Naomi Watts) happens on a prostitute's volatile diary in the emergency room. The London Russian mob, vory v zachone, wants it back because it implicates the son of kingpin Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Shine) in crimes. Driver to the mob, but good guy deep down, Nikolai (Mortensen), serves as the agent collecting the diary and carrying out the fate of those who have read it. As in most mob stories, loyalty is coin of the realm, so much so that even children of a don are not exempt from the rigid code. As in Dirty Pretty Things, young girls like body parts are bought and sold like slaves in a careless market.

    Cronenberg's worlds are usually violent, topsy-turvy, and peopled by bipolar miscreants who have accepted the dangers in hope of riches or power but at the same time fight with themselves over the moral implications. So too in Eastern Promises where a helpless newborn topples a kingmaker and makes virtuous royalty of others. Getting the throne or that royalty is tough for Nikolai, whose naked fight to the death in the bath is a tour de force of violent ballet, even discounting Mortensen's other-worldly physique. Cronenberg's fascination with the body's vulnerability is memorable here, stripped down and utterly alone, like birth and death.

    The majesty of Coppola's Godfather is partly here but more diluted; the array of complex characters in the Corleone family just is not duplicated. Yet Mueller-Stahl has Brando's quiet authority and Mortensen Pacino's quietly dangerous charm (when he says, "I live in the zone all the time," you can't help but wonder what secret turmoil lives in his heart). Neither Eastern Promises actor can possibly surpass those Godfather icons, but they and the film are promising affiliates of the royal gangland canon.
    helpful•57
    45
    • JohnDeSando
    • Sep 12, 2007

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    FAQ25

    • How long is Eastern Promises?Powered by Alexa
    • What is "Eastern Promises" about?
    • Is "Eastern Promises" based on a book?
    • What is that little thing Nikolai keeps playing with?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 7, 2007 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Languages
      • English
      • Russian
      • Turkish
      • Urdu
    • Also known as
      • Eastern Promises
    • Filming locations
      • Thames Barrier, River Thames, Woolwich, London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Kudos Film and Television
      • BBC Film
      • Serendipity Point Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • £25,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $17,266,000
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $547,092
      • Sep 16, 2007
    • Gross worldwide
      • $56,107,312
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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